Locomotive engine exhaust



March 29, 1938. J. 5. KEEN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE EXHAUST Filed April 20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheei 1 INVENTOR John 3. Keen March 29, 1938., J. s. KEEN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE EXHAUST Filed April 20, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR John S KQen Patented Mar. 29, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application April 20,

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to internal combustion engine locomotives and more particularly to improved means for discharging from the locomotive the engine exhaust gases.

It is one object of my invention to provide improved means for forcibly discharging engine exhaust gases a substantial distance into the atmosphere away from the locomotive so that the gases will not be a source of annoyance to the engineer or other personnel of the locomotive.

A further object is to provide an improved exhaust discharge that will be efficient in operation and economical in construction and maintenance and that will require minimum space and offer minimum resistance to the flow of exhaust gases from the engine. A more specific object is to provide an improved arrangement for insuring uniform discharge of the gases with respect to an exhaust blower.

I preferably accomplish the foregoing objects by providing an exhaust discharge immediately above a fan which circulates cooling air over a radiator for the engine water cooling system and more specifically I provide in the preferred embodiment of the invention an annular chamber surrounding said fan whereby the fan and chamber cooperate to create an ejector action thereby tending to draw gases from the exhaust pipe and at the same time forcefully propel the gases upwardly away from the locomotive.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an internal combustion engine locomotive provided with my improved exhaust discharge;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the preferred form of discharge;

Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a modified discharge pipe;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a modification of the outermost portion of the exhaust pipe of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a further modification of the exhaust pipe showing superimposed pipes having angularly directed discharge openings.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken on line 8--8 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a modification of Fig. 5 showing the exhaust pipe tapered circumferentially.

In the particular embodiments of the invention which are shown herein merely for the purpose of illustrating certain specific forms among possible others that the invention might take in 1935, Serial No. 17,388

practice, I have diagrammatically shown in Fig. l a locomotive I having a cab 2 and an engine body 3 in which an internal combustion engine 4 is disposed. Any suitable exhaust pipe 5 and muifier system, if such is desired, may be used. 5 A discharge pipe 6 extends forwardly into a stack 1. This stack is merely the outlet of a suitable air passage 8 within which any suitable water cooling radiator for the engine may be disposed. To insure a forced circulation over such a radia- 10 tor, generally indicated at 9, any suitable fan or blower indicated at H] may be used in conjunction with the air passage. One form of such blower is shown herein as a propeller blade fan H driven by a vertical axis electric motor l2. 16 This blower unit may be supported in any suit able manner such as by usual ribs l 2a projecting radially from an annular lower bracket I21) and an annular member l2c secured to the passage wall 1.

As shown in Fig. 3, the exhaust pipe 6 communicates with an annular discharge chamber generally indicated at M, Fig. 2. This annular chamber is preferably formed in a rather simple manner by a circular member having right angle 25 legs l5 and it. A flat annular plate I! forms the bottom wall and is joined to the upper member by a circular wall l8. These three members may be suitably secured together by welding, bolting or otherwise. Supported Within the annular chamber and preferably in cooperating relation with wall I5 is a cylindrical wall or shell l 9 supported, for example, by an angle iron 20 extending around the shell and resting upon the lower wall l1. These members may be bolted, welded or otherwise secured together. Member I9 is disposed eccentrically with respect to rim l5, thereby providing a larger spacing 22 at one side of the device than at the other side 23 Due to the manner of supporting flue l9, it is possible to suitably determine the difference in the opening at opposite sides of the location thereof. After such position has been determined, the parts may then be permanently secured together as by bolts.

In operation of the types shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it is seen that rotation of fan II by its motor I2 will cause air to be blown upwardly through the blower passage formed by circular wall l9. This air in passing outwardly from the passage will produce an ejector action in the annular space between rim l5 and wall l9, thereby assisting in drawing exhaust gases from chamber l4 into the path of upwardly flowing air. As a result, the exhaust gases are not only assisted in being withdrawn but also they are forcibly mixed and discharged upwardly with the upwardly flowing air from fan ll, thereby insuring not only a high degree of diffusion of the gases into the atmosphere but also that the gases will be carried a material distance above the cab or engine housing roof through which the exhaust passage wall l5 extends. If desired, the top of this passage may be suitably covered with a screen such as 24, Fig. 1. Due to the eccentric discharge passage between wall I9 and rim l5, it is seen that the relation of the pressure to the volume of the exhaust gases is such that a substantial uniform discharge of these gases will occur. As the pressure in the passage becomes somewhat reduced as the gas reaches the far end 22 of the annular passage, the volumetric capacity thereof at this point is correspondingly increased.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the exhaust pipe 6 is provided with a Y connection 26 which supplies two diffusing branches 21 and 28. These two branches are curved in complemental form so as to be disposed over the top of the blower fan as shown in Fig. 1. The outer ends 29 of these pipes are preferably closed and a series of openings 30 formed in the top. These openings are preferably of increasing area in progressing around the circumference of the diffusers 21 and 28, thereby to obtain the desired effect of proper distribution of the exhaust gases with respect to the blower and air passage 1. If desired, the difluser pipes 21 and 28 could be formed continuously as at 3|, Fig. 6, or the tubes whether in two sections as in Fig. 4 or as a continuous pipe in Fig. 6 could nevertheless be tapered as shown at 32 in Fig. 9, this tapering extending in a circumferential direction to a diametric point.

As shown in Fig. '7, the pipe 6 could be connected by a double Y connection 33 from which extends a pair of superimposed circularly arranged pipes 34 and 35. The upper set of pipes has a series of vertically extending discharge openings 36 and a lower set of pipes has preferably an inwardly inclined set of openings 31. These pipes are placed over the blower I0 in the same manner as the modification shown in Fig. 4 except that the openings in the lower set of pipes 35 will direct exhaust gases well into the body of upwardly flowing air and hence effectively diffuse the gases in the air.

From the foregoing disclosure it is seen that I have provided an extremely simple and yet highly effective means that is not only conducive to an economical construction but also one which will insure maximum diflusion and forceful discharge of the exhaust gases away from the locomotive.

It will of course be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

Apparatus for discharging exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine locomotive comprising an upwardly extending passage, a blower therein, and means forming a circumferentially tapered exhaust pipe disposed over said blower, said pipe having a series of discharge openings in its upper side.

JOHN S. KEEN. 

